Author:
Osgood-Zimmerman Aaron,Millear Anoushka I.,Stubbs Rebecca W.,Shields Chloe,Pickering Brandon V.,Earl Lucas,Graetz Nicholas,Kinyoki Damaris K.,Ray Sarah E.,Bhatt Samir,Browne Annie J.,Burstein Roy,Cameron Ewan,Casey Daniel C.,Deshpande Aniruddha,Fullman Nancy,Gething Peter W.,Gibson Harry S.,Henry Nathaniel J.,Herrero Mario,Krause L. Kendall,Letourneau Ian D.,Levine Aubrey J.,Liu Patrick Y.,Longbottom Joshua,Mayala Benjamin K.,Mosser Jonathan F.,Noor Abdisalan M.,Pigott David M.,Piwoz Ellen G.,Rao Puja,Rawat Rahul,Reiner Robert C.,Smith David L.,Weiss Daniel J.,Wiens Kirsten E.,Mokdad Ali H.,Lim Stephen S.,Murray Christopher J. L.,Kassebaum Nicholas J.,Hay Simon I.
Abstract
Abstract
Insufficient growth during childhood is associated with poor health outcomes and an increased risk of death. Between 2000 and 2015, nearly all African countries demonstrated improvements for children under 5 years old for stunting, wasting, and underweight, the core components of child growth failure. Here we show that striking subnational heterogeneity in levels and trends of child growth remains. If current rates of progress are sustained, many areas of Africa will meet the World Health Organization Global Targets 2025 to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition, but high levels of growth failure will persist across the Sahel. At these rates, much, if not all of the continent will fail to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target—to end malnutrition by 2030. Geospatial estimates of child growth failure provide a baseline for measuring progress as well as a precision public health platform to target interventions to those populations with the greatest need, in order to reduce health disparities and accelerate progress.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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